Dern Iglas

[Poopskadoop]

Recently I was playing through the Su-25T flamming cliffs campaign again, and I've found that I seemed to lose a lot of the skill I had the first few times I played it. I keep getting shot down by Iglas in the first mission, but the issue is more grand than that. In general, how does one deal with these annoying pests? Obviously, since they're so small, its impossible to keep track of every single one, so there must be some sort of rule of engagement to minimize the threat they pose. I've tried flying in at 7000 meters, but I find that such an altitude hinders the attack range of the vikhrs far too much. It usually doesn't give me a launch cue until I'm directly over my intended target.

 

As a specific example, how would one go about accomplishing the first mission without getting shot down by iglas. And yes, I do, of course, use flares, but I like to avoid such situations where I even need to use them. Needless to say, they don't always work. :doh:

[britgliderpilot]

Dive in for single passes from high altitude.

 

Dive in steeply with speedbrakes extended, put the pipper on target and fire as soon as you're within range . . . . immediately retract the speedbrakes, pull up, bank and climb away out of the valley . . . . helps if you have the IR jammer on, pop the occasional flare, and make gentle aileron turns slightly off to each side of your desired flightpath as you're climbing out.

 

When you've climbed out of the threat area, go around and do it again - from a different direction if possible.

 

 

In general, you've just got to stay out of their engagement range - this means using the Vikhrs from relatively high altitude (4000m should be OK) and standoff range, and for weapons where you have to lay sights on the target then use the steep-dive profile wherever possible.

[GGTharos]

I think their limit is about 3500m altitude. Fly above that.

 

Don't forget your flares and IR jammer when you begin your attack run and you suspect you'll dip under that altitude. The IR jammer has a limited coverage volume so be aware of that also - it'll only protect you within some 50deg off the rear.

[Ironhand]

...I've tried flying in at 7000 meters, but I find that such an altitude hinders the attack range of the vikhrs far too much...

Wow! How's the air up there? :) Actually 3200 meters AGL should be sufficient. Just don't drop below that. But you probably will in order to keep your lock. BGP gives good advise. Also, in case you haven't seen it and are interested, I recorded my flight of that particular mission and converted it to video. It's not a tutorial per se but you might find it helpful anyway. It's on the A2G page of my site.

 

 

Rich

[Poopskadoop]

Thanks for the help, gents.

 

I just flew the first two missions and both were a success. It was all about keeping that balance of altitude and proximity. I came in at a little over 4,000 meters through the valley in the first mission and didn't get hit at all. I had to adjust to about 5,000 meters in the second mission since the elevation of the target area was higher. The first pass was done at 4,500 meters, but one igla managed to fire at me. I evaded it, though.

 

Speaking of which, is it possible to determine relative altitude? My altimeter, as far as I can tell, only indicates altitude above sea level. That's not very useful in situations where the enemy is located at various elevations.